how to make instant coffee

All right .

So today I wanna make some instant pumpkin spice latte .

However , this general technique applies to any type of coffee .

If PSLS really aren't your jam .

The instant PSL powder I ended up with was freaking amazing .

And I intend to use this not only to make PSLS after pumpkin season is over , but also to use to incorporate into ice cream and other fun stuff like that throughout the year .

Now , this video I really have to say was thanks to harvest , right , who was nice enough to send me a freeze dryer to experiment with .

And honestly , this video may be a reason to get one .

However , even if you can't get one , no worries .

This is still gonna be a fun journey .

Plus you learn how to make a pumpkin spice latte from scratch .

All right .

Speaking of pumpkin spice lattes from scratch .

The first thing we're gonna need is some pumpkin .

Now , the first time I made this , I was feeling a little bit extra and decided to roast my own pie .

Pumpkin .

Now to roast a pumpkin , all you need to do is cut off the top , cut it in half scoop out the interior , getting all the seedy *** out and place the two halves of the pie , pumpkin on a tray and then stick that tray into a 350 degree pa or 100 and 76 degree oven for one hour .

Now , one hour later , we pull our little toasty pumps out and let them cool down completely .

And once they have cooled , we can just kind of scoop the flesh into a bowl .

Now to be frank , people make a big deal out of making anything from pumpkin from scratch and insist that using a can is somehow a terrible crime against humanity .

I think you can safely ignore those people .

It is fun to roast your own pumpkin , especially because it will give you a more kind of like vegetable pumpkin flavor , which I really love , but it's not quote unquote better .

You know , people are busy and fighting the right pumpkin can be difficult , especially if you're living in a different part of the world .

So you shouldn't feel shamed for using a can that being said after my first batch failed .

So miserably , I did use a can .

So if you want to go down that route , you'll just need one can of pumpkin which we'll set off to the side for right now .

All right .

So now we have the P in our PSL .

Now we need to make the s now for this part , you can use a premade spice mix but I like to make my own from scratch so that I can add stuff like pepper and all spice to give it that extra spicy punch .

However , if you can't no shade , you do you ?

All right .

So for my pumpkin spice mix , I just used 12 to 3 inch long stick of cinnamon , uh 2 to 3 peppercorns , 2 to 3 cloves , some ground ginger and some nutmeg and you're just gonna give this a whir in your spice grinder .

And that's basically it .

So now we have the S in our PSL .

Now , lastly , we need the L .

Now L is the latte .

So that means milk and espresso .

So for the batch that I'm going to be , it's gonna produce four servings of PSL .

And so for that , I need four double shots or in other words , eight shots of espresso .

Now , if you don't like espresso or you don't have an espresso machine , no worries using strong coffee instead will give you a slightly different thing , but it'll still taste good .

And heck I can even imagine using a strong black tea might be pretty good .

All right .

So I ran my espresso maker four times and once I collected about eight shots , go ahead and add two tablespoons of granulated sugar to give it a but you can also tune this at the end if you want to .

All right now we have everything to make the base of our PSL .

So for that mix one half a cup or about 100 and 15 g of the pumpkin .

I'm just showing the canned pumpkin attempt since it looked a little nicer on film , add the espresso and two teaspoons of the pumpkin spice mixture .

And then to that , we're gonna add one quart or one liter of milk , mix it all up with a whisk and that's basically our PSL now we're just gonna set the stuff to the side because we're ready for freeze drying .

So we need to prepare everything for that .

So free dryer psls , all you really have to do is just pour them into a tray and place them into the freeze dryer .

Now , I wanted to compare the instant PSL I made with the Starbucks version .

So I just bought a few of those and I'm also just gonna freeze dry some of the Starbucks versions to compare against .

So just all we need to do is pour the liquid directly into the trays and about halfway through pouring , I realized there's kind of a smarter less messy way to load these trays , which is to partially load them into the freeze dryer and then just pour the liquid directly into the trays .

I also found out from a viewer and from the manufacturer that apparently my tray holders are completely upside down .

Thankfully that it didn't seem to affect things too badly , but I will definitely turn this around for the next video .

All right .

Harvest , right ?

Literally could not have made this easier for freeze drying .

All we need to do is close up this chamber and press go .

And 24 hours later , I had this now , as I said , the first batch I made , I kind of had some issues uh which were totally my fault .

But the second time turned out really freaking awesome .

And you can see here that the trays have turned into complete powder and now it's just a matter of crushing this up to make them easy to dissolve in a liquid .

Now , working in batches , I crushed up the powder using a food processor .

I made sure not to cross contaminate between the batches that are mine and the Starbucks version because I really wanted to know if I could taste the difference .

All right .

So now we have our powder .

That's basically it , it's now the moment of truth , which is to actually make a pumpkin spice latte .

Now you can definitely use water , but I actually heated up some milk to dissolve the PSL powder into using a really hot milk .

Really bolstered the creaminess and both of them were far more creamy and rich than you would find at Starbucks .

All right .

So now how does the homemade version compare to the Starbucks ?

Well , to be honest , there isn't much of a difference .

Maybe the version I made is a little bit spicier , but that's probably because of the other stuff that I added .

But honestly , I really couldn't tell a difference .

Maybe mine had a little more of that homemade kind of taste .

But the major difference is really just came down to color .

So if you want to just freeze dry some Starbucks PSLS to have throughout the year , this will work really well .

Right now , we need to find a way to store this and we can either store this in an airtight jar or use a mylar bag .

If you do go down the mylar bag route , make sure you label it so that you can see what's in there a year from now and it's not just a mystery bag .

Go ahead and toss in some oxygen absorbers and seal it up and this should last a while .

So now why did I an oxygen absorber ?

And why is that important ?

Well , moisture and oxidation are really two things that can turn food bad .

Now , the freeze dryer removes the water , which is why freeze dried stuff tends to last so long .

So then the other enemy that we have becomes oxygen .

Tossing a few of these bad boys in will help preserve the PSL all year round .

Now , speaking of moisture , let's talk about that failed original batch I made with the fresh pumpkin .

After the freeze drying cycle was complete .

I left the tray in the freeze dryer and couldn't get back to it for a day , really humid in DC due to storms .

So the moisture in the air just got soaked up into the first batch and this is what I ended up with and you can see how gooey it looks here .

This isn't really what we're going for here .

So make sure that you don't leave your nicely freeze dried stuff out in humidity for extended periods of time or it'll undo all of the hard work that you've done .

All right .

So that's it for this video .

I hope you guys enjoyed this one and I hope to make another cool and fun video soon .

All right .

See you guys next week .

Bye .